Mumias mechanic 'burnt in GSU operation' passes on
Veronica Omayo, mother of the late Stanley Namai, wails in his workshop after it was allegedly set alight by GSU officers on November 24, 2016. The mechanic has succumbed to his injuries. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP.
What you need to know:
Stanley Namai, 36, had been admitted to St Mary’s Hospital in Mumias after he suffered 80 per cent burns in the Wednesday incident.
He succumbed to the injuries on Friday morning.
Hospital administrator Michael Mugo said the patient died at 11am from kidney failure.
Mr Mugo said the patient's condition got worse since he was admitted in an open ward instead an Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
A mechanic who sustained serious burns after General Service Unit officers allegedly set his workshop on fire at Shibale market in Mumias has died.
Stanley Namai, 36, had been admitted to St Mary’s Hospital in Mumias after he suffered 80 per cent burns in the Wednesday incident.
He succumbed to the injuries on Friday morning.
Hospital administrator Michael Mugo said the patient died at 11am from kidney failure.
CONDITION WORSENED
Mr Mugo said the patient's condition worsened because he was admitted to an open ward instead of an Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
“We made an appeal to politicians who kept frequenting the hospital to visit patients injured by police to help raise Sh200,000 for the patients to be transferred to an ICU but they did not respond,” said Mr Mugo.
The fire that police are accused of setting on Mr Namai's workshop destroyed 10 motorcycles and other property belonging to his clients.
The over 200 officers, who have been combing villages and sugarcane farms in a bid to recover seven guns and 180 bullets stolen from the Bookers Police Post on Tuesday, have been accused of imposing a reign of terror on Mumias.
BRUTALITY
Residents claim the law enforcers have been descending on homes indiscriminately and beating up children, women and innocent villagers.
Mwanahamisi Menda Shiboba, a widow from Lukoye Village, accused the GSU of beating up and arresting her son, a Form One student, after she failed to give a bribe they were demanding.
The red berets, she said, arrived in her home in four vehicles and started attacking her family amid threats to shoot them if they did not produce the stolen guns.
She said her son, who is sickly, is languishing in police cells in Mumias.
BRIBE DEMAND
Reuben Makokha, a mechanic from Shibale, said the officers demanded Sh4,000 from him and carted away a gas cooker from his house.
The two complainants visited the Mumias Police Station on Friday to record statements.
Several families have fled their homes in Shibale and Lukoye villages fearing arrest during the GSU operation.
But Kakamega County Police Commander Stanley Tito Kilonzi denied reports of brutality.
DENIALS
“I have received no complaints of alleged harassment by police officers going about the search for the guns, but if there is anybody whose rights have been violated, let them report the matter to the nearest police station for investigations,” he said.
Mr Kilonzo said they had not recovered any of the lost weapons but investigations were still under way.
Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali and his Navakholo counterpart Emmanuel Wangwe said they had been assured by Mr Kilonzo that the operation targeting homes had been halted and police were relying on intelligence gathered to try to recover the arms.
